Page 2 of Cursed Shadows

I think again to the angel’s eyes. To the answers I know lie beneath their surface. I take one last look at the door, but turn away again. I can’t leave the angel. Not yet. I’m not certain why, but something within me insists she can give me the answers I so desperately seek.

***

DRAGAN

It’s a mistake to come here. The moment we enter the city, I feel fear for the first time since the Great War—not for myself, but for Eilish. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent so long away from the presence of women, but despite angels being among the most powerful creatures in existence, she emits a fragility I feel personally responsible to safeguard.

Why? Because if Eilish’s wings really are intact, she istheanswer to overcoming Variant. And it’s for that reason that I must ensure her continued safety and survival. Eilish is the second chance I never thought I’d get. And it’s a chance I’ll do everything in my power to protect.

Baron’s murder and Variant’s subsequent rise to power is a personal failure I’ll never be able to accept or escape. We four were charged with one task: maintaining balance and protecting the realms. We failed. And because of that failure, one of us is dead, Cambion and I are prisoners, and the fourth is a tyrant. This town, in all of its immorality and constant state of destruction, is a direct representation of that failure and I feel it all the way down to my toes.

Now, here I am, marching through the embodiment of my shamed demise with my last hope for redemption. And I’m worried that something is going to happen and I won’t be able to defend her. I have half a mind to take her in my arms and run faraway from this place. But where would we go? I could hide her in shadow, bring her to the Gorge and tuck her away forever. But that would be a prison all its own, and imprisonment is no life for an angel. She was never meant to be a kept pet. Besides, she’d never survive in the shadow realm, anyway.

As soon as her strength returns, Eilish will be the only living creature powerful enough to take on the false king. And as she walks beside me, I feel the weight of a century pressing down on my shoulders.

I don’t intend to fail twice.

“Keep your eyes on the ground,” I whisper to her. The last thing I need is for her to make eye contact with the wrong creature and end up possessed by a ghost or something worse. She nods and does as I instruct.

We wind our way through alleys, side-stepping merchants and beggars along our way. Grimreap is home to a plethora of unscrupulous creatures, all of them fallen on hard times. The sounds of the city hint at the chaos within it: howls of caged animals, transitioning werewolves chained to crumbling walls, screams of people being beaten by thugs, violent explosions, and lepers begging on every corner while rats freely run rampant. I feel Eilish shift closer to me as if she’s afraid. As well she should be; there’s no place scarier than Grimreap.

The line of her lithe body presses up against my arm and my cock instantly responds. I have to dampen the desire down, force away the images of her naked and spread out beneath me. This constant desire for her is getting exhausting. Any accidental touch now seems to set me off and it’s all I can do to turn my mind to other things. I fight hard, knowing I’ll need all of my mental and bodily faculties intact in order to face the horror that is Grimreap.

We keep our heads bowed as we hurry along the narrow corridors of crumbling buildings, our bodies pressed against the ruined stone.

When we come across a tavern, I point Thoradin in its direction and he nods. First bit of business is attending to our growling stomachs. We haven’t eaten in far too long.

I crouch to enter the low doorway and then we’re faced with stairs that lead down, into the belly of the beast. Inside, it’s even darker than the gloom of the city. Eilish grabs my forearm as she stumbles down the stone steps and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, keeping her upright as I pull her into me. She looks up and our eyes meet. She appears surprised. I merely nod at her and she seems to understand that she can trust me.I will protect her.

A few burning torches decorate the stone walls. Their light casts dim circles against the low ceiling but does little to illuminate the creatures within its bowels. In the cramped space, the stench of unwashed bodies festers alongside the moldy dampness.

The tavern is at capacity with monsters, all bold and rowdy. Tables are scattered around the room and all are full, but half the chairs are tipped over or broken. The crowd is raucous, the cacophony of conversation and belligerent yells echoes across the sticky surfaces. We form a line, with me leading the way, and weave a path to a table in the far corner of the room, currently occupied by three hooded figures. I can’t see their faces but I’m fairly sure they’re wraiths. Even though wraiths are spirits, many don cloaks to appear as though they’re living, then they drain the life-force of those around them. And what better place than a tavern to feed on the energy of the unsuspecting?

Along our way to the table, we barely miss two drunken brawls. Eilish’s eyes widen as she notices an oily demon openly fucking one of the tavern women, a well-used harpy, against thewall. The harpy shrieks in either delight or anger as she shreds the demon’s back with her claws, and he continues to thrust into her.

Stench and disease linger in the air and I doubt my decision to bring Eilish to this place for the nth time since coming here. Thoradin wordlessly breaks the line to find the barkeep and we approach the table. The wraiths don’t acknowledge us.

I hold Eilish at arm’s length behind me. I would shield her from view with my wings, but I don’t want to draw attention to the fact that I’m a gargoyle. Even with the charm that’s currently protecting our true identities, I must be careful.

“It’s time for you to leave,” I say with tight lips as I face the three occupying the table. They look up at me and, just as I thought, there’s nothing but blackness beneath their hoods.

They make no move to disappear and just continue floating above the chairs, as if trying to give the impression they’re sitting.

“I don’t enjoy repeating myself,” I warn them, my tone harsh.

“For fuck’s sake,” Cambion interrupts and pushes past me. He eyes the wraiths narrowly then holds his hands together until a tiny ball of light forms within them. “Unless you want to be blasted back into the darkness you came from, get the fuck out of here.”

The ball of light does the trick as the wraiths immediately disappear, leaving only their black robes. Cambion extinguishes the ball of light between his hands and throws the robes onto the floor before he takes a seat.

“That was risky,” I point out.

“No one noticed and it worked,” he responds.

I can’t argue with him, so I stand to the side and motion to Eilish to take her seat. “You sit on the inside, next to the wall,” I tell her. She simply nods and sits. I follow suit beside her, beingextra vigilant when it comes to taking in my surroundings. When the barkeep and Thoradin return, we’re presented with four full bowls of “stew” and tankards of foul-smelling liquor. The bowls contain a gray, brackish liquid with chunks of questionable, possibly rancid meat.

I doubt any of us even taste the meal as we go about shoveling it into our mouths. Even Eilish has forgone her spoon and is taking long, deep gulps from her bowl. Once the fatal edge of her hunger is satisfied, she lowers the bowl and wipes her face with the back of her hand. She places the remainder of her stew on her lap and I see Flumph’s small head extend from his hiding place beneath her cloak so he can slurp the contents unseen.

When our meals are finished, we lean over the table so we can hear one another over the dissonance of the other customers.

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